What Is The Destruction Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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Seeking wealth and freedom can lead to achieving the American Dream but result in destruction. The American Dream is the belief that any human being, no matter their class, gender, nationality, race, can achieve being rich and successful in America due to great motivation and work. To most, the American Dream means having a big house, a nice car, expensive clothing, and other aspects associated to wealth and prosperity. Although, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald represents a wide spectrum of themes, the most significant one is the idea of the American Dream and its corruption. This novel shows what occurred in the 1920’s to the American Dream, it caused corruption as well as damage. Three characters that were involved in the corruption …show more content…
His strong love for Daisy and constantly chasing for her, takes over his life and destroys his life. Nick says, “ I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” (Fitzgerald 180). There was a green light that Gatsby would look out to from his mansion. This green light was where Daisy lived. The green light signifies Gatsby’s dream of being able to have Daisy. This green light gives him hope that he can get closer to Daisy. This green light is used as a symbol of the American Dream, it represent money and hope. Gatsby tries to strive for the American Dream so that he can be the man for Daisy, but instead his dream is destroyed and his love for Daisy is …show more content…
He wanted to rich and have a happy life. Then when Daisy came along, his dream altered a bit. In Kimberly Pumphrey’s critique of the American Dream, she says, “Before he met Daisy, Jimmy Gatz had a dream of becoming something better. Jimmy Gatz was on the right path towards achieving the American dream, by way of improving his mind and working hard. It was not until he met Daisy that his dream changed; Daisy became his dream” (Pumphrey Kimberly). Gatsby was so attached to thought of falling in love with Daisy that his dream of becoming rich had slightly vanished. As a result of attempting to get Daisy back while also capturing the American Dream, Gatsby caused himself self destruction and later on his
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